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Erica Werner
Congress reporter focuses on economic policy
Mike DeBonis
Congress reporter covering the House of Representatives
January 24 at 8:40 pm
Senators began Thursday new negotiations behind the scenes to end the longest
Democratic House governments have struggled to come up with a new security plan at the border, after two failed Senate bills failed, which forced new efforts to find another way out.
However, it was unclear whether this activity would provide a solution, as the fundamental dynamics that led to the closure remained unchanged: the demand for new funding for US President Trump's US-Mexico border wall and the Democrats' refusal to pay for it. give. .
A plan recently launched by a bipartisan group of senators to reopen the government for three weeks as border security negotiations seemed to fail almost as soon as it appeared, the White House insisting that Trump did not want to go back. would accept such a proposal only if it included a payment "on its wall – and the Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) the non-departing appellant.
And the plan that Democrats in the House are using to deploy, even though it should equal or surpbad Trump's $ 5.7 billion proposed for his wall, will specifically exclude funding for this wall, but Instead, this money will focus on technological improvements and other changes along the border – probably making it unacceptable for the president.
Speaking to the White House after the Senate had blocked his border solution and his Democratic Democrats project, the President said that if Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) And the leader of the minority, Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.) could come forward with a "reasonable agreement", he would support it.
When asked if he could support a plan that did not include funding for the wall, Trump replied, "I have other alternatives if necessary. . . Trump suggested declaring a national emergency to bypbad Congress and use the army to build the wall, a possibility that remains on the table if the stalemate persists.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky leaves the Senate after holding two votes on the closure that was not voted Thursday in Washington. (Bill O / Leary / The Washington Post)
The closing marks the 35th day of Friday and 800,000 federal officials are facing the harsh reality of a second paycheck. The urgency of finding a solution was obvious to lawmakers on both sides, as the horror stories of the closure multiplied. These included new warnings about the dangers of air travel as federal aviation safety and security staff are not remunerated, and a report by NASA's Johnson Space Center that services have been canceled for employees working without pay to operate the International Space Station. We were asked to volunteer to clean the bathrooms themselves
Exasperated Gov. Senators complained to Vice President Pence during an in-camera lunch, but they gave little detail while seeking to rebadure lawmakers that there was no such thing. 39, other options in the study.
"The situation we are in has caused a lot of frustration," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.).
During the lunch with Pence, McConnell quoted a favorite who would have often expressed his dissatisfaction with government closures: "There is no education in the second coup de mule", according to two Republicans aware of exchange who talked about the condition of anonymity to discuss it. McConnell's comment was first reported by Hill newspaper.
Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) Confronted McConnell during the day at the same luncheon by telling him: "It's your fault", according to one of those same Republicans and another person having attended the exchange, also speaking at the hearing. condition of anonymity.
Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) addresses reporters as she goes to the Senate for votes on Republicans and Democrats' rival plans to end the government's closure on Capitol Hill Thursday. (Melina Mara / The Washington Post)
McConnell replied, "Are you suggesting that I take advantage of this?" Said the people.
Asked about the exchange, Johnson spokesman Ben Voelkel said Johnson did not blame McConnell for the closure, but expressed his frustration over the day's votes, which many senators said were destined 'failure.
As he left the Capitol around 7 pm Thursday, McConnell had a slightly optimistic tone, telling reporters, "At least we're talking, and I think it's better than before."
Democrats have denounced the current impbade and its consequences on their constituents.
"It's a joke!" Shouted Senator Michael F. Bennet (D-Colo.) In the Senate. "How ridiculous is this government shut down because of a promise that the President of the United States could not keep, and that America would not be interested in what it holds – this idea that he would build a medieval wall across the southern border. "
The first bill the Senate rejected was a Trump proposal to reopen the government until September 30, while spending $ 5.7 billion to erect more than 200 miles of new border walls. Trump's plan would also curb asylum seekers and provide temporary relief to about 1 million unauthorized immigrants whose protection had already been removed by Trump.
The vote was 50 to 47, less the 60 votes needed to move forward. Sensational Republicans Sens, Mike Lee (Utah) and Tom Cotton (Arkansas) voted with the majority of Democrats against the plan, saying it did not offer the necessary immigration changes, while Senator Joe Manchin III (DW.Va.) joins the Republicans to support him.
The second vote was on a Democrats' short-term spending bill that would have reopened the government on February 8 with no additional funding, to allow the opening of border security negotiations with the government. Both bills contained billions of dollars of badistance to victims of hurricanes and fires, although this figure was higher, in part because it included aid to Puerto Rico to which Trump was able to help. was opposed.
The vote on the Democrats' bill was 52 to 44, and also 60, with Republicans Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Cory Gardner (Colorado), Lamar Alexander (Tennessee), Johnny Isakson (Ga.), And Mitt Romney (Utah) defying Trump to join all Democrats to vote in his favor.
The votes were held under the supervision of a dozen House Democrats gathered before the Senate chamber, including some of the newly arrived new students who overturned control of the House of Representatives to arrive in Washington after a closure of the government that they have limited power to resolve.
Subsequently, a bipartisan group of more than a dozen senators began speaking in turn to the Senate to demand the reopening of the government for three weeks while finding a compromise on border security – a solution that the White House had already rejected.
Senator Lindsey O. Graham (RS.C.), one of these legislators, said that she had telephoned the phone just after the votes to tell her that Senators were joining behind the Short term expenditure agreement. He said Trump had shown openness to him and told him certain conditions he would need.
Graham said that he "has never been as optimistic as me now that we can find a way to open the government." But then, Trump said that he would need "some kind of proportional down payment on the wall" to accept the plan, and Pelosi rejected that idea, saying it would not be a "reasonable deal".
"I do not know if he knows what he's talking about. And you? Added Pelosi.
McConnell and Schumer met briefly after the Senate vote, but Schumer refused to answer questions when he returned to his office, merely saying, "We are talking, we are talking."
Senators remained uncertain about whether to reach an agreement – and if so, what it would look like.
"I do not know what will happen next. Nobody knows it, "said Senator Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.).
"There are all kinds of discussions," said Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.). "You have, you know, people running everywhere, I do not mean that in a pejorative sense, but like vaporized badroaches. They are everywhere. "
In the House, the Pelosi and Democrat leaders were working to finalize legislative proposals that would represent their proactive description of what they support in terms of border security. The growing legitimacy of lawmakers, particularly some freshmen, is convinced that they must defend something – not just oppose the wall that Trump has long claimed Mexico would pay for.
Democrats in the House had planned to present the proposal at a press conference Friday morning, but it was delayed because leaders were waiting to see if anything emerge from the Senate.
Details remained unchanged, but Bennie Thompson (D-Miss), Chair of the Homeland Security Committee, said it would "meet or exceed" Trump's $ 5.7 billion figure. The money would be spent on drones, sensors, renovated entry points, more border agents and other improvements. The proposals will be part of a larger spending bill from the Department of Homeland Security, which was closed when the government closed, and would not represent new Congressional appropriations.
Some Republicans have rejected the House Democrats' plan before it even appears.
"The last thing we need, in my opinion, is that politicians try to micro-manage border security decisions," Cornyn said.
This development came as a result of new warnings from federal employee unions against the effects on federal services, including air travel. At the same time, US Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, questioned him about why federal employees are going to food banks during the government's partial closure, claiming that "we're not going to be able to buy food." they should instead apply for low interest loans from banks and credit unions to supplement lost wages.
"I know they are, and I do not quite understand why," Ross told CNBC, questioned about federal employees who frequented food banks. Ross is a billionaire and a longtime friend of Trump.
His comment immediately attracted Pelosi's critics.
"Is that the kind of attitude of the kind" that they eat cakes? ", Did she say. "Or," Call your father for money "?
Thursday, in the White House, the president's senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met with several Latin American leaders who lobbied for the president to soften his offer to Democrats by including a permanent legal status, and possibly a path towards citizenship. for immigrant youth known as "dreamers".
Kushner responded that "permanence would be given the utmost consideration," said Daniel Garza, executive director of the Free Initiative, a group funded by Charles and David Koch, major GOP fundraisers who support dreamers.
Over the weekend, Trump had proposed a three-year extension of a deferred action program that allowed to provide work permits to 700,000 dreamers. He tried to cancel the program and the temporary extension was part of the law that failed Thursday.
Paul Kane, Seung Kim Min, David Nakamura and Damian Paletta contributed to this report.
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